A View to Die For

by Carolyn Maddux

Wealthy, handsome, and totally unscrupulous, developer Warner Hayden has big plans for an over-the-top luxury resort on Mount Ada overlooking Avalon Harbor, and a collection of dark secrets to ensure the cooperation of key community leaders. His plans aren’t what Santa Catalina islanders want, but he seems unstoppable — until he’s found dead on a steep slope below his property. Virtually everyone who’s anyone on the island has a motive for the murder. With a detective inspector borrowed from the mainland determined to pin the crime on visiting butterfly hunter Robert Michael Pyle, and a host of Plein-Air Festival artists underfoot at every turn, it’s up to young Detective Rhys MacFarlane and his islander friends to unravel the tangled webs of intrigue and deception.

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2022

Reviews

[Bill Yake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent, well-written first novel by Carolyn Maddux. A developer who has been blackmailing various decision makers on Catalina Island has apparently been pushed off a viewpoint on his property. There are so many suspects because he is so unpopular. One of the suspects is real life author and lepidopterist, Robert Michael Pyle, who visits the island as part of his Butterfly Big Year (as in his book Mariposa Road). There is an additional tragedy in the story, turmoil in the lives of various characters, plus some romance. The story has good character development.

[Karen Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not sure what I enjoyed most about this book: the fabulous island setting with Maddux’s richly textured scenes,or the skillful manipulation of dialogue and character development, or her seamless integration of quirky plot twists. It all adds up to a feast. Plein air artists and foodies will certainly enjoy the vivid descriptions of flora, fauna and mouthwatering dishes at catered events, especially since events include an annual gathering of outdoor artists. A View to Die For is clever, it’s deep without being cloying, and it keeps you turning pages and guessing….a wonderful who-dun-it mystery.

[Randy Kohlmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A View to Die For by Carolyn Maddux had me looking up Santa Catalina Island videos because she paints such captivating scenes. Readers like me will want to visit the island looking for Dr Robert Pyle’s butterflies as well as the scenes that her plein air artists are drawn to. When Detective Rhys MacFarlane keeps returning to the murder scene , I feel like I’m standing there too among the native shrubs in Southern California sunlight. All this wrapped around a brilliantly written page turner that doesn’t disappoint! I’m hoping to meet these memorable central characters again in future Maddux novels.

[Peggy Herring · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book! The victim is delightfully evil. The suspects, some living on the island, some only visiting, each have just enough motive to have kept me guessing as I turned the pages. And yes, the ending caught me by surprise! Standouts are the detective, Rhys MacFarlane--I am hoping that there is to be another book featuring him--as well as the very pertinent ecological themes that the author raises throughout. There are no easy answers in the preservation vs. development debate, and there is a lot at stake no matter where you stand on the issue. This novel, though mainly a mystery, bravely explores that struggle through the eyes and hearts of a small community.

[Mike Callaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maddux will have you entangled in her web all the way to the end with a list of suspects all too intriguingly nice, a mysterious death, and a victim you will despise. Along the way, She will expand your culinary palate, add to your botany knowledge and give you a guided tour of Catalina Island. What more could you want from a whodunit novel? Read A view to DIE for.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read "A View to Die For" in two sittings.A terrific read!!!

[Ruth Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

maybe 3 1/2 stars
The description of this as a “cozy” murder mystery was accurate